Georgia has about 11.3 million residents. Registered nurses average $95,080 a year, 22nd among the fifty states and the District of Columbia.
Licensure
The Georgia Board of Nursing licenses registered nurses and advanced practice registered nurses. Licensed practical nurses come under a separate board. Both sit under the Secretary of State's office at 237 Coliseum Drive in Macon, telephone (844) 753-7825. Rules and applications are at sos.ga.gov.
Georgia belongs to the Nurse Licensure Compact. A nurse living here holds one multistate license good in every other compact state, including all five of Georgia's neighbors: Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Alabama.
Nurse practitioner practice
Georgia is in the restricted group. A nurse practitioner works under a protocol agreement with a delegating physician, whose supervision is required for parts of practice including prescribing. Georgia has kept tighter limits on nurse practitioner prescribing than most southern states, and the rules governing ordering of imaging in particular have been amended repeatedly. See nurse practitioner practice authority.
Nursing education
Emory University's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing in Atlanta is the state's leading research nursing school. Augusta University's College of Nursing, attached to the state's academic health center, the Byrdine F. Lewis College at Georgia State University, Kennesaw State University's Wellstar School of Nursing and Mercer University carry large programs, with the technical college system supplying practical nurse and associate degree graduates statewide.
Pay and workforce
Metropolitan Atlanta takes the majority of hospital nursing work in Georgia. Emory Healthcare, Piedmont Healthcare, Wellstar Health System, Northside Hospital and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta are the largest employers there. Augusta, Savannah, Macon and Columbus anchor smaller markets.
Beyond the metropolitan areas, rural south Georgia has lost hospitals over the past two decades, and the critical access hospitals left behind cannot match Atlanta on pay. Several counties have no obstetric service at all, which is one of the clearest illustrations of what a rural hospital closure actually costs. See rural and frontier nursing and nurse midwifery.
Related
- Nurse Licensure Compact
- Nurse practitioner practice authority
- Collaborative practice agreements
- Critical access hospitals
- Nursing by state
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, state population estimates for July 1, 2025. Accessed September 8, 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, registered nurses (29-1141), May 2025. Accessed September 8, 2026.
- Georgia Board of Nursing, contact details and licensing information. Accessed September 8, 2026.
- Nurse Licensure Compact, member states. Accessed September 8, 2026.
- American Association of Nurse Practitioners, State Practice Environment. Accessed September 8, 2026.